Insights from the Coursera course - Learning How to Learn by Dr.Barbara Oakley and Dr.Terrence Sejnowski
Somewhere along the way to adulthood, most of us lose our childlike wonder at discovering how the world works. Slowly but surely, the curious kid inside of us starves to death because we've been fed this subtle lie that good grades, a cert, and a decent job is the end goal.
But ever so often, a chance encounter presents itself which brings back to life our innate desire to be in awe of the world we live in; to want to ask why things work the way they do; to be a student all over again.
This is where I've been camping out for the past 5 years or so. A few experiences that resurrected my childlike curiosity. However as many people have learned, passion doesn't always translate well into action. And this is part of the reason I enrolled for this course on Coursera - to understand how learning takes place in a deeper sense (biologically), but also practical approaches that would help me increase my capacity for meaningful consumption of knowledge.
I first came across Dr. Barbara Oakley on the Knowledge Project (Shane Parrish) Podcast. In the interview, she described her inherent disdain for math and science from an early age, and how she studied employed learning techniques that helped her overcome this presupposed belief, to the point where she eventually earned a PhD in Engineering! Even through the interview, it was immediately apparent that Dr. Barbara has an extraordinary ability to communicate ideas clearly without ever sounding dull. She's the epitome of someone who seems to have never lost her child like wonder at discovering new ideas. I'll be discussing a few key insights that I've gained through the course so as to provide practical tips for those who are learners, and hopefully also whet your appetite to go on and take the course yourself (it's free!).
The first concept introduced in the course is that we have two modes of thinking, focused mode, and diffused mode.
We're in focus mode whenever we're fully engaged in concentrated thought. This mode utilizes concepts that we're already familiar with in order to solve new problems. A common misconception that a lot of people have is that learning only takes place in this focused mode. However, there is a second mode of thinking that's equally important.
Diffused mode is one of our brain's many neural resting states; taking over whenever we're resting. This more relaxed state allows us to gain a bigger and broader perspective on the problem at hand, which is often needed whenever learning something new, or tackling a new problem.
Effective learning is achieved by shifting between these two modes of thinking. Great thinkers in the past intentionally found ways to actively switch over to their diffuse mode of thinking. Salvador Dali (the painter) had a unique practice of intentionally falling asleep for a very brief moment, which he credited as providing the inspiration for many of his paintings. [1]
A helpful analogy to frame these two modes of thinking is to imagine the brain as a pinball machine. The bumpers represent the neural connections that have been formed in our brain. Focused mode has the bumpers in closer proximity, which represents the quick firing of neurons among familiar pathways during this mode of thinking. Whereas the wide spaced bumpers in diffused mode paint a more subconcious top down approach to thinking.
Take breaks during periods of intense studying. Hammering away at a problem to no avail usually won't increase the possibility of solving it. Instead I've found that sleeping can be the most effective solution.
Whenever we're learning something new, we can imagine holding it in our working memory (aka short term memory). As most people can attest to, working memory isn't particularly good, which is why we're often forgetting the names of people whom we've just met. Working memory only contains 4 slots, which represents items that can be held in focus at any one time. [2]
What we want to do instead is to move new concepts into long term memory. Long term memory can be pictured as a massive storage warehouse. Repetition and practice is key in consolidating new ideas to long term memory, as the brain needs time to form these neural connections.
When learning something new, our brain compresses and groups ideas that are related together into what is known as chunks. This act of chunking solidifies the neural pathways that are associated with a particular concept. Once a concept is chunked, recalling and applying it becomes a lot easier; almost second nature. Often times a mastery of a topic or skill involves building many mini-chunks which are then compressed into a larger chunk.
A helpful example for me to think about these abstract chunks is to recall back to when I first started learning to play football. Initially, even making a simple pass required intentional concentration in order to get my body posture and coordination right. Slowly, I moved on to learn other skills like how to dribble, to shoot, and to tackle. Over time, I no longer needed to intentionally think about posture or coordination, but instead these skills became second nature to me. Each technique mastered through repetition becomes compressed into a chunk, which enables the brain to seamlessly orchestrate these precise movements. My focus then moved on from the act of acquiring the proper technique to knowing when to use them.
Dr. Oakley talked about 3 steps that are crucial in forming chunks:
I initially hoped to include an extra section on how Procrastination works and the techniques to combat it, but I think I will conclude here and include it in a follow up post instead. Hope this proves to be an informative and practical read!
[1] S. Dalí, Dali - 50 secrets of magic craftmanship. New York: The Dial Press, 1948.
[2] N. Cowan, "The magical number 4 in short-term memory: A reconsideration of mental storage capacity", Behavioral and Brain Sciences, vol. 24, no. 1, pp. 87-114, 2001.
[3] Z. Reagh and M. Yassa, "Repetition strengthens target recognition but impairs similar lure discrimination: evidence for trace competition", Learning & Memory, vol. 21, no. 7, pp. 342-346, 2014.
[4] D. Rohrer, R. Dedrick and S. Stershic, "Interleaved practice improves mathematics learning.", Journal of Educational Psychology, vol. 107, no. 3, pp. 900-908, 2015.
